Ben grew up in the northwestern Wisconsin farming community of Comstock. At Cumberland High School football and wrestling caught his interest. He finished 2nd in the State Wrestling Tournament. At Iowa State University Ben studied Architecture, was a 2x National Champion in wrestling at the 190 pound weight class and was part of 2 National Championship Teams

This success catapulted Ben into the Olympics where he won a gold medal in Munich Germany in 1972 and silver in Montreal Canada in1976. His brother, John, received silver medal in ’72 and a gold medal in ’76. During Ben’s career he won 5 National freestyle Championships, the Pan Americans and made the 1980 Olympic Team which was boycotted by the US..

In 1973 Ben began coaching at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin where he was Head Wrestling Coach for 28 seasons.

Ben and John began Camp of Champs Wrestling Camps in 1977. Today Camp of Champs trains several hundred wrestlers every year. Ben continues to direct the Camp and each year is guest speaker to several thousand people at local and national events that include school, civic, church and of course wrestling groups.